Arc of Night
by Daerunia
Summary: And there, clinging to the warmth of her once-mother's hand and blinking snowflakes away with her teardrops, Ultear realized the weight of her sins. Thankfully, there are some nightmares that one can forget when dawn breaks. Takes place after Ultear's loss to Gray on Tenroujima; one-shot.


**Arc of Night**

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_**Disclaimer- **__Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima_

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Sleep was a form of Magic not too different for the Arc of Time. It was complex and powerful in design; one had to ability to pass hours in the blink of an eye, at such a speed that they should be fatigued. But yet, instead they awoke rested and ready to move forward, unaware of the miraculous adventure that they had just experienced.

As a matter of fact, it was estimated that the average person had over twelve dreams in an eight hour period, even if they didn't recall a single one of them. Even more incredible: dreams, despite feeling as if they could sometime occupy one's night for an entire resting period, truly only lasted a few seconds each. The human mind (and the animal mind, because it was unfair to believe that only humans were gifted with such Magic) sped up whilst slowing down and recovering; it decreased the passage of time whilst time itself ticked onwards at a faster pace, all the while completely unconscious.

If Ultear Milkovich had known that she was merely dreaming, she would have struggled for consciousness as a drowning swimmer claws for the surface, desperately trying to breach the surface after the realization that one could not breathe underwater. Unfortunately the dream that she was in was so incredibly real, so lifelike, that she couldn't be bothered with trying to wake up. As a matter of fact, she had no doubt that it was reality.

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The Ultimate Magic World had finally been brought into being with the Dark Magic that Grimoire Heart had sapped from a now near-lifeless and drained Zeref. Cat-like eyes scanned the scorched body, limp against the ground as if Zeref were merely the shed skin off of a newborn reptile. There was a pang of guilt beneath her breast that almost made Ultear's throat tighten with panic at what she had done, but there was no going back now. Her goal was complete, she could simply return to the past and fix what she had broken, of course. There were so many lives to repair and so many sins to repent for; Ultear's painted lips remained curled up in a smile as she trembled in the wake of the sudden rush of natural power, the energy of gaia that still lingered in a swirling rush as she stepped away from her familiar weapon of choice. The orb had been the centerfold for the great revival of such a perfect world, but as it was right now, the tool held dangerous power that she had no desire to fiddle with.

Surely she should have considered the absence of Hades and the other members of Grimoire Heart; if she were truly being observant, she would have known it wasn't real. If she could only find her waking memories, she would recall that Hades had just fallen and so had she, at the hands of Gray Fullbuster. She was recovering in Meredy's care, waiting and wondering what the future would hold.

But instead, she could only see this new, bright world through tear-filled eyes. There was no time to hesitate at all, and even though she knew no incantation of the spell that she was about to cast, Ultear's hands opened upwards in front of her and began to distort the air around them as she tapped in the magic all around her. As her long, violet locks lifted from her neck and energy coursed through her core from the center of her soul, a quiet sound that could have been a laugh and could have been a sob escaped her.

And in an instant she vanished from that spot, leaving behind only the last tendrils of her visible aura that dwindled away from where her being had just been. The sound that she had made was held still in the frozen time as she moved the clock back, and in her body's place was only a whispered sigh of "Mother."

She reappeared in the snow, clothing soaked as if she had been laying there for a while. Ultear raised her hand to her face, admiring the small, smooth fingers and her unbruised, unbroken skin. Of course, she had expected to return to her childhood in order to begin changing her future, but it still felt incredibly awkward. Instead of being tall, graceful, and voluptuous, she was thin and lanky with clothing that seemed to be a little too short for her growing body. She did recall being at an in-between size during her youth, but that was when she was a young teenager. If she was a teen, then that might have meant that she didn't go far back enough.

"Ultear, be careful. There's debris under the fresh snow, you could fall into a basement or storm shelter if you don't stay towards the middle of town."

The voice gave a gentle and stern warning, but instantly tears poured from Ultear's eyes at the sound of the comforting, sing-song tone that she had known once upon a dream. Shakily she stood, though her trembling was not caused by the snow that she had apparently fallen in. She turned to the voice, seeing an outstretched hand and a familiar face filled with an expression of love that Ultear had not seen in many, many years. "Ur?"

No, that wasn't her name. They were together, and they were here, and this was her life. The woman's name was Mother.

"Mother." Ultear took the woman's hand, hardly able to tear her eyes away. It was the look of pain set behind those familiar eyes that brought Ultear to finally tear her gaze away and search her surroundings. They were in what used to be a village, however some form of destruction had left it as nothing, buried beneath the fresh snow. "What happened here?"

"Loss," Ur responded quietly, holding to Ultear's hand as she carefully stepped forwards, clinging to her daughter to make sure that she didn't fall. In turn, Ultear did the same, though it was more to be sure that her mother wouldn't disappear. It was real. Ur, she was here in the flesh, alive. After a few moments she knelt and released Ultear, burying her hands in the snow. Ur recoiled slightly before doubling her efforts, uncovering a small pale face. Her knowing fingers felt for a pulse as Ultear peered around her mother, her own brown orbs wide in horror.

The little boy under the snow, the life that had become nothing more than a sculpture frozen in time, was Gray Fullbuster. The raven-haired boy who had replaced her, who had defeated her, and who had forgiven her. Panic flooded Ultear at the sight of him, a peaceful look upon his still face despite the rubble that he was buried with in silent, snowy peace. Only days ago in that future-past that once was, his cool eyes had observed her and understood. Gray had been the first one to do so. She had every intention of killing him for the hours he had stolen from her, but after that loss, and after seeing him here before her, fragile and childlike…

"Fullbuster!" Ultear collapsed to her knees and began scooping snow aside, fear gripping her throat. What kind of past was this? This had never happened, and she hadn't gone far back enough to make it a consequence, had she? Her hands gripped his shoulders, his frigid flesh nearly causing her to let out a shriek. Why was he so cold? "Wake up, Gray Fullbuster!"

"Do you know this boy?" Ur's gentle grip on Ultear's wrist served to stop her daughter's futile efforts. "Ultear, I know it's scary, but please-… you can't do anything."

"He's an Ice Mage, Ice Mages cannot freeze to death! Mother, you have to do something! Bring him back, you have to bring him back!" Snippets of their meeting resurfaced and she was met with the realization that without Ur's tutelage, Gray Fullbuster wouldn't be anything more than an ordinary child with a small gift for magic. It was completely possible that he could have frozen to death, and yet she fought it against what she knew to be true. "Mother, do it! Save him!"

"Ultear, you know that no magic in the world can do that. He's long gone." Concern gripped the mother's heart as she stood and pulled her child away, pressing Ultear's head into the warm safety of her side. "I understand that you're upset, but this is how the world is."

"I can save him! I can save him with my Magic!" Despite what she had done to get to this point, despite the warmth of being back beside her mother, Ultear pulled away and turned her back against her, crunching snow under her knees as she knelt over the frozen and crumpled lad once more. "He has to live, it's not fair for him to die!" Her fingers touched his stark-white chest as she forced every bit of her soul and will to returning the town to the way it had been; all other consequence had been abandoned. As warm hands gripped her shoulders, her mind cleared slightly and Ultear was aware that her Arc of Time was having no effect.

Ur's voice was nearly apologetic, gentle, afraid to break her child's heart further. "Darling, you know that you have no magic power. Not every child of a Mage is born with it, we've been over this. Please, don't hurt yourself because of this." Arms carefully slid around her shoulders as she felt the warmth of Ur at her back, caressing her child. "I know that it's sad; that poor boy must have had parents that loved his dearly. This is why I want to protect you and keep you away from the war waged by magic, Ultear, my tear."

_'No magic?'_ She stared at her hands in wonder, horrified at the thought of having to live a life in which she had no control over circumstance. How could these hands that could raise a nation in a single wave not even possess the strength to raise one single boy?

Was this the fate that she had cursed Gray Fullbuster with? Her teeth bit into her bottom lip as tears that froze slid down her cheeks; the same familiar ache set into her chest and its eternal burning. Time had quieted it for a moment, and yet the pain had returned.

'_I could carry on. Will not having Gray Fullbuster effect this world so much?_' The darkness of her mind extended its clawed hand, reaching out for her reason to strangle it with evil_. 'My mother is here. I can't cause pain like before without magic. This will work out, it's only one boy. I can keep living in exchange for just one life.'_ There was a battle within her, reason and darkness, a bloody fight to the death while she stood holding Ur's hand, snowflakes sticking to her cheeks and lashes. Her mother's strong hands seemed so nostalgic. Ur belonged to her and only her.

Her and only her.

Ur belonged to Ultear, and Ur was alive.

Repeating it to herself didn't quell the violence, it didn't stop that burning ache and the tightening of her throat. No. This was wrong. Ur was Gray's mother. The boy that stumbled into her life healed her, repairing the path that life had taken for the single mother. What was there now but her sinner of a daughter, one that knew nothing about the woman she cherished so much? Ultear could only tremble.

She needed to go back, but she couldn't. Her magic was gone, and there was no-one in the world capable of using it. Perhaps her sins were for a purpose; a trail leading to righteousness that she had to seek out in the future, not in the past. It was too late now.

"Let's go home." Ur's voice shattered the world that had gone so still, banishing the silence caused by the powdery ice. Gray was already buried again, lost to the world; a relic of war to be remembered but not missed. On heel she turned her back to him, walking away with her fingers holding tight to Ultear's steady grip.

There was no choice but to carry on, no other option besides to await the dawn with her mother and pray that this was a nightmare, one that she would wake up from. If that wasn't the case, how could she be expected to live once more with the memories of what she had done? Though her form was stiff, her heart thundered in her chest, pounding against her ribs as her pulse raced and deafened her. Was it anger? Hatred? At whom? Herself? Someone else? Weren't these burdens supposed to vanish with the creation of this world? Fatigue at the thought of living an entire lifetime again made her weak; fear of the familiar unknown drained her.

And ignorant to what her daughter had done and was doing, blameless but so guilty for leaving that boy behind and not finding him in time, Ur pulled her child along, prepared to return to the life that she was used to in this time, a life with her daugther but without the boys that had made her stronger. Lyon and Gray, or Ultear? Which one made Ur happier? Which had made her stronger?

She could only feel pain, swirling through her sensory network in a way that reminded her of Meredy. What would become of that girl now, without Ultear in her future? Would she die, just as Gray had done?_ 'Truly,_' Ultear thought,_' I am a curse. A witch. A monster.'_

"I haven't repented for one single sin." Ultear whispered, her words lost to the howl of a winter wind's bellow.


End file.
